Blistex
Chris likes Blistex chapstick. His lips really only get chapped in the winter. It only took two years of marriage for me to associate the smell of Blistex with cold weather.
Anticipating Summer’s Pending Ending
The crisp clean cold of winter cannot be replicated by an air conditioning unit. Nor can the toasty warmth and smell of a furnace imitate summer heat. We have entered that brief window of the year when mornings are gloriously crisp, but afternoons are still warm and sunny. September. September is summer’s last wish. September…
Pregnancy Diaries: Counting Kicks
Husband of pregnant wife: “Honey, can you move around a little less at night. You’re keeping me awake.”Pregnant wife: “Sweetie, I understand what you are saying and I love you, but let me tell you a few things. I chew two Tums preemptively before I go to bed. Then I give you a kiss and…
Pregnancy Diaries: You know you’re 9 months pregnant when…
Started my ninth month yesterday.You know you are nine months pregnant when you try to squat to accomplish a chore, but fall down 30 seconds later.You know you are nine month pregnant when you ask your husband to remove your toe nail polish for you. No, don’t bother repainting them. Thank you. Just remove it….
Frickets!
Our friend, who tends to abbreviate words in unique ways, calls free tickets “frickets.” Well, Chris and I have had the perkiest week of our time in NYC so far- by that I mean a week with more perks than ever before. See, occasionally, shows give out frickets for military members or we find opportunities…
Take a Guess at Where I am Standing.
I look up from my food stand burrito to see bright yellow river taxis, jet skiers playing in the wake of the brighter orange Staten Island ferry, crazy kayakers trailing behind them, at least one helicopter at any given time, seagulls, sail boats, and even a 19th century slow moving sloop. Behind the commotion, stand…
Questioning My Questions
I reread my post: http://heatherpaiges.blogspot.com/2011/06/provocation-of-thought-during-prayer.html today. From where does this sense of entitlement spring? How is it that I expect a perfect life? How is it that when anything goes “wrong,” I am tempted to think God is not good and I question His motives or abilities? Why? Who said I should have anything good…
Fancy Little Smoothie
I just made the fanciest little health nut smoothie I’ve ever encountered: blueberries, strawberries, spinach leaves, 1/2 nectarine, banana, yogurt, 1 raw egg yolk, and a bit of milk. I threw the leftover egg white into the skillet with a second egg to supplement my breakfast. My midwife told me that to eat more protein….
…but I can’t say I like it.
Two of my favorite sites are leaves falling in late autumn and blossom petals falling in late spring. (I also enjoy watching rain fall and snow fall, but those occasions are far more common than the other two and therefore not so special to me). Today’s site is a very rare one indeed. I’m watching…
Hurricane Irene
Apparently sudden drops in barometric pressure often cause women to go into labor. I am glad to say that we made it through the hurricane without this effect. Little Linus is still safe inside me inside our still safe apartment right now. No grills blew through the patio doors; the power only went out temporarily;…
Pregnant from the back?
As I left Starbucks today, a woman that had been sitting behind me for 2 hours stopped me, “When you stood up, I was shocked to see that you were expecting. You do not look pregnant from the back at all.” And I grin. 😀 6 weeks to go!
Sandy Hook. And my belly.
I accompanied Chris to a First Aid/ CPR class at CG Station Sandy Hook yesterday. The class was helpful, but draining enough to warrant a nap on the beach afterward. Sandy Hook penninsula boasts the beauty of any Northeastern beach, but is quite unique in that the New York City skyline stands only miles from…
Common Question: So, how are you feeling? (often accompanied by belly touching,
which is actually okay as long as I know the person because I am pretty touchy myself.) Answer: Well, I am feeling pretty darn pregnant. I am not ready for him to be out yet, but I am ready for him to not be in! Yes I am excited about motherhood, but that doesn’t mean…
Philly
Chris suggested that we go on a date Saturday night. So did we go local or to Manhattan? Or to Philadelphia? When we lived in Kittery, Maine, we went to Boston for dinner on a few occasions because it was only an hour away. How wonderfully spontaneous. How had we lived only 1.5 hrs from…
Activity of the Day:
Lay down and read a book with my apple sauce bowl sitting on my belly. And watch it move. bap bap rooole woooddaddoop bup bup.
Pregnancy Diaries:
Chris came home from work to me cooking. He plucked some food off of the underside of my belly, “Did you know that was there?” Embarrassed, I answered, “No. I couldn’t see it.” and he laughed at me. But it’s okay because he thinks I’m cute. Chris heard the question from me, perhaps for the…
An excerpt I recommend:
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank
“Tut tut it looks like rain.”
When I open the shades on both the living room window and the breakfast room patio door, one can see straight through our apartment. And when I open the glass on both, the breeze can blow straight through too. Right now, the fresh smelling wind before a rain storm is pushing paper off the desk…
provocation of thought during prayer (personal journal entry transcribed on whether or not God is good)
These questions have weighed heavily on my mind since Levi Masalin’s death and were furthered by a recent sermon by Thomas Wong, pastor at Point Community Church in North Brunswick, NJ. Lord, I trust you. I know you do not forget us. Isaiah 40:27-28. You are living and active and intentional. I do not claim…
NYC with dear friends
Last year we had a reunion in Maine, where I lived at the time: http://heatherpaiges.blogspot.com/2010/02/lovely-friends.html. This year we selected NYC, so I wrote the itinerary. Rachel observed,“Heather has two criteria: history and pretty” and I confess that that is quite accurate.I picked Rachel, Laura and Dana up from the airport and drove due south to…
Wedding Anniversary Flag
A few months ago, Chris informed me that he wanted our baby to be born in Texas. I, in turn, informed him that that would involve a 9 months pregnant woman flying 2,000 miles then flying back with a week old infant… No. My dad came up with an answer.He requested that a new state…
Ultrasound
If you don’t know my husband, this will tell you a little about him.The ultrasound tech asked, “And what does that look like right there?”With little hesitation and no reserve, Chris answered, “Bawls!”“Well, yes. The appropriate term is ‘testicles,’ but yes” replied the tech. In other words, it’s a boy! Chris’ facebook profile status reads,…
The move
Stayed up until 3am with dear friends in Connecticut then rose at 6am to get to church in New Jersey on time. There, we found that 10 men planned to help move us from Staten Island to our new apt in NJ! And they did it in 4 hours flat and in only one trip…
Only People Matter
Many pursue wealth & ownership, dream jobs & experiences. But no one grieves over losing money in the stock market or missing a job promotion. No one’s heart aches over a low score on a standardized test or a canceled plane ticket. The only thing that matters is people. And love. This is evidence of…
Alice Austen’s House
It looks like a doll house- with carpentry like lace lining its dormers and gables, diamond-pained glass, and stout chimney- sitting in the grass where an 8 year old Alice Austen set it on a trip to seashore in 1874. Her little fingers wrapped leafy vines around its porch supports then showered the whole thing…
“Heavier”
When my name is typed into corrective text messaging, a phone’s first guess is “Heavier,” not Heather. For once that is applicable. My belly seems to grow in spurts. At the mo 4 mark, I suddenly doubled in belly-size then seemed to stay stagnant for a while. Then this past week, I had another growth…
“Ba ba black sheep, have you any wool?”
“Yes sir, yes sir, 8 bags full!” Remember the unsheared sheep at the orchard last week? Well, I called to inquire about the price of their wool and they offered 3 bags for free! So, my fellow historic village tour guide, Aileen, and I visited Terhune on sheep shearing day (I had never seen sheep…
Renewed. Historic. Serene.
I wrote of my visit to Princeton and its local orchard last fall, but O, let me talk now of spring! Finally, after a long snowy winter, the foliage is again thick enough to cause me to miss turns as I zigzagged through rural New Jersey. I was welcomed into Terhune Orchard by innumerable dandelion…
Doctor’s orders
I told my prenatal doctor yesterday that I cannot physically eat the recommended 2500 calories a day- or at least I cannot eat that much in healthy foods. So she prescribed whole milk and a scoop of ice cream per day. How often do you hear news like that from your doctor?